Originally posted by the Voice of America.
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Trump's Assertion of Authority to Reopen Economy Challenged

Steve Herman

   WHITE HOUSE - U.S. President Donald Trump is facing backlash over his
   assertion that he, not the states, has "the ultimate authority" to
   decide when to lift stay-at-home directives and reopen the country's
   economy.
   New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday he would refuse and legally
   challenge any order by Trump to reopen his state's economy amid the
   coronavirus pandemic if the order would put the public at risk.
   "If he ordered me to reopen in a way that would endanger the public
   health of the people of my state, I wouldn't do it. And we would have a
   constitutional challenge between the state and the federal government
   and that would go into the courts," Cuomo told CNN.
   At a White House briefing Monday, Trump said he "calls the shots" in a
   reply to a question from VOA about whether consortiums of states
   developing their own reopening plans pose a challenge to his authority
   to declare a national reopening amid the coronavirus pandemic.
   "They can't do anything without the approval of the president of the
   United States," Trump declared.
   Trump insisted there are numerous provisions of the Constitution
   backing him up on this, asserting "when somebody is president of the
   United States, the authority is total."

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